Lens Fungus

After a bit of help as have read through all the post regarding this on the forum and also have been in contact with Canon UK who where not very helpfull and infact had no intrest in helping or giving advice.

Have had a 24-70 f2.8L for 10 months and have noticed what i believe to be the early stages of a fungus infection in the lens which does not seem to have attached itself to any glass elements yet.

After contacting Canon to see if they could service and eradicate the Fungus from the lens i was advised that they had no way of killing off the Fungus although they could clean the visible deposits from within the lens so there would be a good chance of it returning at a later date.

My main concern is that i have been using the camera for some time not knowing that the Fungus was in the lens so what would be the chances of it effecting my other lenses as the 24-70 blows air out the rear into the camera chamber when zooming in and out and is there any way of preventing it from spreading as i dont like the idea or the thought of the cost to service the rest of my kit if this is the case.

Any help or advice would be great.

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Interesting.... I have never seen lens fungus before. How does it get like that?

Yea I've never seen the early stages either. Hope things work out ok.

Do a goggle search of "camera lens fungus" and you will get lots of information.

I did an Images search, and there were none that looked like your photo. Maybe you don't have fungus?

Doesn't look like fungus to me either.

Agree.Click

I'd be very surprised if that was fungal growth: it isn't filamentous, and appears to be in irregular lumps, and not flat against the surface. It looks more like some sort of debris to me.

You've had the lens 10 months. If it was new, that is probably too quick for fungus to develop unless you keep your lenses in a greenhouse. If it's under warranty, sent it in. Some internal jigger may be grinding itself to pieces.

As for cross-contamination where there IS fungus, I personally think the chances are remote, mostly because in such a nutrient poor environment, it would probably take centuries for a fungus to develop spores.

While you can't kill fungus that is established (practically, that is - you could bake your lens to kill the fungus, but that would likely destroy it), you can completely arrest its growth by keeping the humidity below 40%, and it is substantially reduced at 60%.

How do you keep the humidity below 99% in the UK?

Scott

PM720 wrote in post #6133364
How do you keep the humidity below 99% in the UK?

Scott

Can't be THAT bad, surely. Once you hit zero degrees, the humidity drops anyway!

No, but seriously, if ambient humidity is a problem, anything from a zip-lock bag with a silica gel packet to a full-on dry-cabinet can be used. I've got my gear in a (near) air-tight plastic box (around 8 L) with about 100 g of silica gel and a humidity gauge.

PM720 wrote in post #6133364
How do you keep the humidity below 99% in the UK?

Scott

Scott,,, move to Laos where the humidity is 98% but much warmer!!

PM720 wrote in post #6133364
How do you keep the humidity below 99% in the UK?

Scott

About the only humidity in the UK is the steam rising off that fatty food they eat !

HI all,

I have had lenses with fungus in them and it never looked like your pics. If I have one still laying around I'll photograph and post the image here tomorrow. For the most part, you are looking for something that looks almost like a spider web growing directly on the lens element. Actually, the fungus usually grows (or should I say feeds) on the lens coating, not the glass directly. This is why even if it is cleaned up with a fungicide or bleach (I always wondered why no one has ever tried athletes' foot sprays!), you are still often left with a damaged lens coating.

The two conditions you never want to see in a lens are separation or fungus - nasty stuff.

With regard to keeping the fungus away, here are a few rules I follow:

1) I never store lenses in those dark, draw-string lens bags or closed lens cases
2) I put my lenses in a cupboard into which I mounted a small incandescent light bulb, which I keep glowing for about 8 hrs a day.
3) I also keep a few good sized bags of silica gel in each cupboard.
4) One of those little fans used to cool computer boards wouldn't hurt either - keeps the air circulating

Basically stay away from damp, dark places with stagnant air!

Hope this helps!

Paul

gasrocks wrote in post #6132387
Doesn't look like fungus to me either.

I have one lens that has fungus and what you have pictured is not fungus looks to be like part of the lens cement flaking which is a bit bizzar 10 months old get canon to check it out first and come up with a answer.
bazz8

Thanks for all the replies,was not to sure if it might be a mold growing in the lens if some moisture has managed to get in to it as it looks more like a powder when magnified.
Will be sending it back to Canon for inspection and hope it will be covered under the warranty and then see what they say.

Have stored the lens in a kit bag with loads of large packets of silica gel and all of my other lenses which i have had a lot longer all seem fine,cant ever remember using this one in the rain or even damp.

Thanks for all the input and will let you know how i get on with Canon.

Looks like some one spilled the Bolivian marching powder.....